Billy Joel clarifies he is still alive after Google mistakenly reported his death

Fans who searched about Billy Joel on Google last thursday were being informed that the musician had passed, which wasn’t true. The 77-year-old pianist, songwriter and singer underwent brain surgery after being diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus, commonly known as “water on the brain,” but he recently reassured fans that he is okay and feeling well.

After fans alerted others to the wrong information, Joel’s publicist, Claire Mercuri, released a statement saying: “Billy’s not dead. I was just emailing with him.” Google later addressed the error, saying: “This is no longer appearing, and was not a manual change by Google. When people vandalize public info sources, this can affect the information that appears in Search.”

Google did not specify which public information source had been altered. However, since the company said that vandalizing public information sources can affect what appears in Search, it appears that incorrect information may have been added to one of the sources Google uses to generate its information about public figures, like Wikipedia, which then made its way into the search results.

What Billy Joel recently said about his health

In a new interview with SiriusXM, the musician talked about the procedure he underwent and how he is feeling now. “I noticed that my balance was not good. I had this sense of being on a boat, like this rocking motion. I wasn’t steady on my feet. I didn’t know why that was. And I went to meet with the neurologist and I was diagnosed with having something called normal pressure hydrocephalus, which they used to call water on the brain. Nobody’s really sure what causes it, but they’re able to diagnose it.”

The doctors said that it could get worse and recommended that he undergo surgery to have a shunt implanted in his brain. “I said, ‘Well, what does that entail?’ ‘Well, we drill a hole through your skull and we stick a shunt inside your brain. I said, ‘Nah, I think I’ll pass on that.’ I didn’t want to do that.”

“I read up on it and I realized it can help improve your balance and can help your memory. I don’t want to lose my marbles. It’s hard to tell what’s age and what’s a condition. So, I agreed to do the shunt and I had a surgery and they implanted a shunt in my brain and it actually improved things. My memory got better, my balance got a little better, my ability to function was better.”

He continued:

“I realized, and the doctors told me (to get the surgery), because of my job, which is playing rock and roll music very loud, that it was giving me something like a concussion every time I did a show. It was causing damage to my brain nerves and I could be losing more brain cells the more I played the more shows I did. And I realized that means I shouldn’t be doing this right now. I gotta improve.”

“They don’t want me to stress too much. So, I’m doing physical therapy. I’m doing whatever it is they tell me to do because I don’t want to lose it. I know people have heard, ‘Oh, he’s got a brain disorder.’ And I’m okay. I just want people to know, don’t worry about me. I’m not going anywhere. I’m here. I’m still here,” Billy Joel said (Transcribed by Ultimate Classic Rock).

Since he canceled the tour dates, Joel only performed once back in January. It was a surprise two-song guest appearance with a Billy Joel tribute band.